The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
An automotive electronic control system for a vehicle controls vehicle functions including, but not limited to, vehicle propulsion, braking, steering, and transmission operation. One or more main microprocessors (e.g., within electronic control units, or ECUs) execute software and/or perform calculations associated with the control of these vehicle functions. The microprocessors may communicate with other microprocessors and components of the electronic control system over a distributed asynchronous serial communication network such as a controller area network (CAN) bus.
The main microprocessors within the corresponding ECUs execute software related to control of various vehicle functions over the CAN bus, and one or more microprocessors may monitor another one of the microprocessors over the CAN bus. For example, a main microprocessor may monitor another microprocessor associated with a vehicle sensor. As such, vehicle performance depends on the integrity of the main microprocessors.